He’d looked up to Lucky, couldn’t wait to hang out—until finding out he’d have to give up his home, friends, school, and everything else Spokane offered.
Todd, on the other hand, must’ve taken his job as older brother, and so-called man of the house, to heart. An old soul hid behind a youthful appearance.
Sixteen and eighteen. They’d grown up way too fast.
He hadn’t given Lucky a lick of trouble since Charlotte left. Lucky eyeballed his oldest nephew, searching for signs of Lucklighter in the boy. Good behavior and Lucklighter didn’t belong in the same sentence.
Of course, Ty more than made up for Todd’s lack of redneck uncouth.
If only Lucky hadn’t gotten involved with the wrong man all those years ago and decided on drug trafficking as a career choice—resulting in a ten-year prison sentence—and had been there for the boys. Too late to be sorry now. All he could hope for was to make up for lost time.
He eyed Ty, sitting off to himself, thumbs working over the pad of his cell phone. Texting his friends back in Spokane, more than likely.
“This sucks! My friends don’t start school until the 30th!” Ty glared at Lucky.
Like Lucky had anything to do with school schedules. Wasn’t his fault Fulton County schools started classes August 1, next Monday.
Lucky hadn’t had many friends over the years. Leaving folks behind never really mattered much, except for family.
Family. He’d have to call his mother later, catch up on the goings-on at the family farm—just because he could.
For now, he’d content himself with being with the boys he’d missed so badly, the coworker who wouldn’t take no for an answer on friendship, and the man who never gave up on Lucky no matter how many times he should have.
“So, Ms. Johnson—”
The woman in question cut Todd off with a wave of her hand. “Honey, call me Rett. All my friends do.”
“Okay, Ms… Rett.”
She grinned. “That’s better. Now, you wanting to ask me something?” Taking a bite of pizza postponed her answers.
“Uncle Ric… Lucky says you’re working a case with him.” Must be hard for Todd to stop thinking of Lucky as “Uncle Richie”, the way he’d known him for years.
“Well, I wouldn’t really call it a case.” Rett took another bite of pizza, chewed a moment, and swallowed. “We’re doing a risk assessment for a pharma company.”
Todd leaned forward, elbows on the table. “What does that mean?”
“We go in and look at their operation, find the weaknesses, and advise them on how to better comply with state and federal laws.” Jeez. So, Bo wasn’t the only walking textbook at the bureau.
Todd held a slice of pizza aloft but hadn’t taken a bite yet. “Do you bust them if they’re doing something wrong?”
Even Ty turned his attention to Lucky’s on-duty partner.
Rett barked a laugh. “No, honey. If we find too many deficiencies we might share information with FDA or DEA, but we’re just there to advise.” She winked at him. “I’m not saying we won’t come back if we think we have a reason to. Andthenwe bust them.”
Todd’s eyes went wide. “Y’all got the coolest job ever.”
Anyone who thought the life of an agent exciting never hung out with Lucky on plant audits. Boring, boring, boring. Unless they found something. However, Bo usually provided a bit of amusement by covertly arranging pharmaceutical samples with all the labels facing the same way.
“Not saying we do, but I’m not saying we don’t either,” Rett said. “But it is a risky business to be in. What? You thinking of changing your major to criminal justice?”
“Nah, I think there’s more money in engineering.” Todd finally bit into his pizza.
“Have you ever been shot?” Ty asked.
“No, but I had to shoot someone once,” Rett confessed, voice as casual as if she’d said,I ate pizza for lunch.
“Really? That is so awesome.”
